True to his promise of providing a people-friendly government, the first Congress Chief Minister of Telangana, A Revanth Reddy, on Thursday announced that he would hold his first Praja Durbar or people’s court on Friday at the erstwhile Pragathi Bhavan, which was the official residence-cum-camp office of his predecessor K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Earlier in the day, Reddy was sworn in as the second Chief Minister of Telangana along with his 10-member Cabinet by Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan in the presence of Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge as well as Gandhi siblings and the chief ministers of Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh at the Lal Bahadur stadium. After being sworn in Revanth Reddy immediately signed on two files. While the first file pertained to the implementation of the six poll-related guarantees made by Congress during the campaign, the second one was to employ a differently abled woman, Rajani.
The banners on the dais too proclaimed that it was the swearing-in ceremony of “Telangana People’s Government” as a sea of Congress workers and supporters thronged the venue. All roads leading to the stadium were full of traffic, holding up the convoys of the Chief Minister-designate and the Governor.
Sonia Gandhi arrived at the stadium along with Revanth Reddy in an open vehicle and received a rousing reception from the gathering. The Governor administered the oath of office and secrecy to Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu (revenue), N Uttam Kumar Reddy (home), Damodar Rajanarsimha (health), Komatireddy Venkat Reddy(municipal affairs), D Sridhar Babu (finance), Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy (irrigation), Ponnam Prabhakar (BC welfare), Tummala Nageshwar Rao (roads and buildings) and Jupally Krishna Rao (Civil supply).
Two women ministers D Anasuya Seethakka (tribal welfare), who is also a tribal MLA, and Konda Surekha (women and child welfare) belonging to the BC community were also sworn in. The new Cabinet does not have a Muslim face since all six candidates failed to win the polls.
The Cabinet composition bore the stamp of Congress’s high command all over it. Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka and Damodar Narasimha well represented the SC community. However, it was heavily tilted towards the Reddys to accommodate all the heavyweight leaders, including Uttam Kumar Reddy and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy.
Those who quit BRS to join the Congress were rewarded with Cabinet posts, including Thummala Nageshwar Rao, Jupally Krishna Rao, and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy. Although Revanth Reddy would be completely new to the administration, eight of his ministers had held portfolios or government posts in the past. Gaddam Prasad Kumar, another SC leader, will be the new Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
Addressing the gathering for the first time as the Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy said, “As the Chief Minister of the state I promise that people are going to be partners in the government.” He added, “We have removed the barricades at Pragathi Bhavan. Tomorrow we will conduct the Praja Darbar there at 10 am.” He also announced that Pragathi Bhavan will be renamed after Jyotirao Phule. Reddy will not shift residence to Pragathi Bhavan and will continue functioning from his Jubilee Hills residence.